Have Faith (The Ninja Way)
by Willow0Angel
Summary: When a young lady wakes up in a beautiful, sunlit forest, she can only remember two things: her name - Faith - and how to fight. But what does an amnesiac do in a world of Shinobi? A book in the Ninja Way series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sup everyone! MorllyberNo.1 here!**

**So this is yet another book in my Naruto series. I'm not exactly sure what to say here so please read, review, etc! SWEET thanks :)**

**DISCLAIMER (All chapters) : I DO NOT claim ownership of Naruto or any of the characters or contents. I DO claim ownership of Faith, Kaze, Skye, Maria and Hope, some of which are still to come.**

**Well, peeps, this is Morllyber signing out! Peace out, dudes!**

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It was a beautiful day. The sun streamed through the trees. There was a slight breeze, which touched the cheek of a young girl lying underneath a tree. Her white-blond hair, done up in a messy knot, glinted in the sunlight. She had a long scar ranging from just over her right eye down her face and neck, stopping on her right collarbone. Her eyes flickered open to reveal eyes the lightest brown. They seemed to twinkle when the sun hit them in the right spot. Due to the scar, her left eye opened wider than the right. She surveyed the forest with curiosity. She wore black leggings with a sheathed dagger on each leg. A long-sleeved leather jacket was draped over her chest and when she sat up abruptly, a blood-red singlet revealed itself from under the jacket.

She stood up and quickly put on the jacket, zipping it up to the top of the singlet. She unsheathed the dagger on her right leg and held it up, eyes searching for any kind of movement.

...

I heard a rustle of movement behind me. I swung around but saw nobody. I flipped the blade and held it another way. I took one step backward and I was surrounded. They all held blades similar to mine, but they were all dressed differently. They only had two things in common: they were all male and they all wore the same headband across their foreheads. Four squiggly lines were scratched into them. They looked threatening but I didn't allow my face to show any emotion. The man directly in front of my lunged at me. When he was at arm's length I grabbed his hair and dragged his head down, bringing my knee up to meet his face. I let go of him and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

The next one to attack came from behind me. I jumped up and flipped over his head, landing on his shoulders and wrapping my legs around his neck. I quickly sheathed my dagger and leant backwards. When my hands touched the ground I pulled the man backwards and flipped him with me. Unwrapping my legs he landed face-first into the dirt. He began to get up but I smacked my fist into the back of his head. He, too, dropped where he was and didn't move.

Before I knew it they were all on me. I swung around them all, throwing punches, flipping, sinking my daggers into stomachs. Soon enough I was up on a tree branch with about twenty unconscious people below me. I panted heavily and wiped my left cheek. There was a long cut there. I wiped away all the blood and the bleeding slowed down a little. I heard movement to my left, right, and behind me. I spun around and there were four more people surrounding me. But these people were different. There was one man, about my age and three kids about sixteen, two boys and one girl. They too were wearing a headband but the symbols were different. A blond boy and the girl observed the men below us with wide eyes. But the other kid and the man never looked away from me. The man made a move and I threw my dagger at him. He caught it by the handle about two centimetres from his face.

"Stop." He said. His voice was slightly muffled from behind a mask he was wearing. His headband dropped over his left eye. He lowered my knife. "We didn't come to fight you."

I glared at him. "Then explain what the hell those guys -" I gestured to the mass of people below me, "- were for, then!"

The brown-haired boy now held a cutlass in his hand. "They are not from our village." he said.

"Village?"

"The Hidden Leaf village." The blonde was now staring at me with piercing blue eyes. "We've been assigned to escort you to the village."

I glared at him. "You're not escorting me anywhere, kid."

The girl, who was clad in pink with light pink hair and bright green eyes, eyed me carefully.

"We can settle this peacefully." She said calmly. "We don't need to fight you."

I glared at her instead. "Prove it." I turned towards the man. "Give me my knife back."

"I can't do that." He said.

"Give it back and we'll talk." I repeated.

They were silent. I didn't move my gaze from the man, not even daring to blink. I didn't even notice my left hand moving until it was on the hilt of my left dagger. Nobody moved until the man sighed and handed my dagger over. I took it and sheathed it, nodding.

"Okay, then!" the blonde kid said, breaking the tension. "If we're gonna talk, can we do it on the ground instead of in this tree?" he asked. Everyone nodded and the brown-haired kid slowly put his cutlass away.

Once on the ground, they all explained in turn what was going on. It was pretty damn confusing, when it was all over. And before I knew it, I was in the so-called 'Leaf Village'.

They were all surprised to hear I was an amnesiac. Hey, it's not my fault if I can't remember anything. When they asked my name, I told them I wasn't obliged to tell them anything.

I hid my emotions from these strangers. I didn't allow my face to portray any emotion whatsoever. If these guys were after me, it was best they knew as little as possible about me.

But I have a feeling I couldn't hide my admiration for the village. It was amazing, so happy and peaceful. It was exactly what I wanted to call home.

Standing in the Hokage's office (Pronounced "Hoh-kah-gey") in front of a blonde lady with a strong expression and a small, blue rhombus on her forehead. It was just me and the man, since the three brats had gone home.

"Who are you?" the lady asked sternly. "What is your name?"

I glared ate her, not caring that she was the village leader. "Faith." I said coldly. "No, I don't know my last name or anything about myself, before you ask."

"She's an amnesiac." The man obliged. "What do we do?" he asked. The woman, who was apparently addressed as 'Lady Tsunade' placed her head on her interlocked fingers and fell into thought.

She looked up quickly. "You can stay here until you regain your memories." She said sharply.

The lady beside her, holding a small, angry-looking pig, asked quickly: "Lady Tsunade! Are you sure that's the best idea?"

Tsunade looked back at her. "It's the only idea."

The man interrupted, speaking to me without looking at me. "How do we know you're not pretending to be an amnesiac, so that you can gather Intel on the village." It wasn't a question

I sighed, irritated. "You're either going to have to find someone who can read my mind or just trust me. If I were you, the former option would be a good choice."

Then Kakashi gave a sigh. Tsunade broke the silence that followed.

"Kakashi?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, Milady?" The man, whose name was apparently Kakashi, answered.

"I am assigning you to be Faith's escort while she's in the village. You will show her around and make sure she doesn't try anything. Alright?" Tsunade told him.

"What?" Kakashi's expression was confused. (Well, I thought it was. The only part of his face visible was his right eye) His voice was like a whiny kid's when they don't get what they want.

"Do you have an objection?"

Kakashi sighed again. "No, Milady." He seemed resigned to the fact. As a matter of fact, I was feeling exactly the same as him in that moment.

"Good. You are dismissed."

So we left. As we walked out Kakashi introduced himself properly.

"My name's Kakashi Hatake, by the way." He said.

"Congratulations." I replied with a small smile. I couldn't tell, but I thought he cracked a small smile.

So I let Kakashi take the lead around the village. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. There was no use acting otherwise. All the people were happy and smiling, cheerful and having a good time.

I was hanging a way behind Kakashi, not wanting to seem to enthusiastic. Soon he stopped and looked back at me.

"I'm not going to try and get information out of you." He told me. "You don't have to keep your distance."

I raised an eyebrow. My left one, due to the scar on my face. "I choose to be a lone wolf." I replied, but kept walking until I was by his side. He adjusted his stride a little to match mine. I reached up to my head and let my hair down. I ran a hand through it, getting it off my face. Then I stopped and looked behind me. I saw a flash of blonde hair go around the corner into a nearby alleyway. "Is that kid following us?" I asked Kakashi.

"Naruto Uzumaki." He said. "And yes, probably. He's annoying like that."

I sighed. "Damn straight, apparently."

That was the first of many days of my time in the Leaf. But the peaceful… well, peace, wasn't going to last very long. But who would've known that?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've had a major case of writer's block and the first couple of weeks at school were tough. It's like "Hey kids! Welcome back! Now do tests or you won't move up into the next year level!" Not word for word, but if we don't get a specific percentage at the end of the year, we get kept down. Meh.**

**Also, don't mind the major time skip. I just kinda want to get down to business here.**

**Well, Morllyber signing out - peace out dudes!**

The next few weeks in the Leaf were quite interesting. Kakashi was nice, albeit late all the time, and he was patient when to came to my memories. Not that I remembered anything, of course. During my time in the village and around Kakashi, I found myself growing lighter, and I smiled a lot more. It almost felt strange.

Due to my scar, I had lost all sight in my right eye, but I didn't want to cover it up like Kakashi did. It marked something, although what that something was I had no idea.

The village itself was amazing. It was so beautiful, and everyone was so nice and friendly. Their open kindness made me feel like this was my home. It was like it was the first real home I had ever known. And... _he_ almost made me feel at home.

I sat on a bench outside where I was living. It was another beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the sun was very welcoming. I stared into the sky and closed my eyes. I felt the sun on my face, and it felt nice. I cleared my mind and tried to look for my lost memories.

Of course, I found none.

"It will take time." Kakashi's voice came from from behind me. I opened my eyes and turned to see him sit on the bench next to me.

"I know," I said, "but it's just so... frustrating!" I heard my voice rise in volume slightly. "I don't know why I can't remember anything!"

"Calm down," Kakashi said quietly. I tried to do so. I don't know why, but there was something in his voice that was full of calming authority. It was... strange.

I took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself. But, despite Kakashi's words, I knew it wasn't going to work right away.

"How would you know?" I mumbled. I heard him turn to me. "You're not some useless amnesiac with nothing to do all day but try and regain their memories. It's been nearly three weeks already."

"I know that." Kakashi turned back and leant back in the bench. "I may not have lost my memories, but I have lost many important things."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" My voice was cold, unbelieving.

"My family." Kakashi's voice was quiet, like he didn't want anybody to hear. I snapped out of my delusion and turned to him.

"What?" I could barely hear myself. Suddenly I was disgusted with myself.

"I lost my best friend, my sensei, my father, my mother," he sighed and closed his eye, "and I am close to losing my sister."

"You have a sister?" I asked him. Hey, I didn't know that. It surprised me, I'd been hanging around with him for nearly three weeks and I knew next to nothing about him.

"She's been in a coma for almost two and a half years." Kakashi said, his voice monotone. It was like he was suddenly opening up, as if he'd been dying to tell me this for so long now.

"Oh." For some reason, my hand went up to the top of my scar and I felt my fingers trace it, all the way down my face and neck and onto my collarbone. The edges of it were ragged and yet sharp, like a kunai on an angle. But what would I know, I had no memories.

Kakashi changed the subject. "Your memories will come back one way or another." He assured me. "Trust me."

Trust him? I barely knew anything about the guy and he was asking me to trust him? At the time, I thought he was crazy. He had seen me kill twenty people without a second thought, and he trusted me. It was completely crazy, and yet...

_Trust me._ A voice rang through my head, and it wasn't Kakashi's. It was a girl's voice, similar to mine. But I couldn't figure out who's it was.

"Faith?" Kakashi's voice cut through my fantasy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied. I felt a sharp pain sear through my palm and I looked down at my hand. I hadn't realised I was clenching my fist so hard. I slowly uncurled my fingers and splayed my hand. It was shaking slightly and I fought with myself to regain control of my body.

"Are you sick?"

I looked sideways at him. "Why are you so worried about me?" I asked carefully.

"It's my assignment to look after you while you're in the village." Kakashi answered with a small shrug, like he was bored. "That's all."

"Hn." I turned away and caught a glance of something pink in the corner of my eye. Near the corner of the house. It disappeared for a second before reappearing with something yellow next to it. Kakashi sighed, clearly annoyed. So was I, for that matter. "Can you tell those annoying brats to go the hell away?" I asked quietly, so they wouldn't hear.

"They're the persistent type." Kakashi answered just as quietly. "They won't give up, no matter what I say."

"Well then, I'll tell them."

"Ignore them, they'll get bored eventually."

"Hn, fine." I mumbled. But before I could sop myself, the corner of my mouth that wasn't scarred had twitched up in to a small, brief smile.

**A/N: That chapter was pathetic, but like I said, writer's block is a virus that only I have right now. Ha, that reminds me, when my mum asked me what I wanted for Christmas I said, "A way to cure writer's block." She just rolled her eyes at me. Then when I said "Kakashi Hatake cosplay" she told me to stop swearing. Funny, funny, mother dear.**

**Anyway, please excuse my poor writing (I think it's temporary, thank god) and I hope you liked this chapter! Peace out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ungh... writer's block... BUT! I will attempt to overcome the devil and write this chapter!**

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The next day, we - Kakashi and I - were walking around the streets of the village, somewhat aimlessly. Kakashi was insistent on showing me around and, okay, I'll admit it, I was rather interested in the beautiful village.

"Hey," I said as we were walking. Kakashi turned to me. "I, uh," I didn't know how to say it without sounding weird.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

I sighed. "I was wondering if I could see your sister." I said finally.

Kakashi looked surprised. "Sure, why not?" He said. "Why now, all of a sudden?"

I shrugged. "Well, you were talking about her yesterday and I got curious." I tried not to let any emotion into my voice. I was the quiet one in the corner that didn't talk much, and didn't smile much either. I guess I always had been.

_Wait, what?_ Always had been? Really? I shook my head slightly and breathed more slowly.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked. I didn't answer, just nodded slightly.

Kakashi and I turned a corner and headed towards the hospital. On the way we passed a shop adorned with flowers, all different colours. It irritated me, I wasn't into bright colours. There was a girl in the window of the shop, with pale lilac eyes and long blonde hair. She looked up as we passed and smiled at Kakashi, who nodded back. But when the girl saw me following him, she almost gaped. I pretended not to notice.

"You're pretty popular, huh?" I said quietly to Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed. "When you're sixteen and see someone with a person of the opposite gender, those people _must_ be on a date, or something."

I exhaled sharply. "Teenagers," I muttered under my breath.

Kakashi looked sideways at me. "You were a teenager once," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Not that I remember, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought like that. Besides, i haven't been a teenager for ten years."

"Hm," Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "You're younger than you look."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied. "How old do I look, just out of curiosity?"

Kakashi looked at me for a few seconds. "Not twenty-nine, but not _too_ much older," he finally said. I cocked my head a little.

When we reached the hospital, we were greeted by a medical-nin that took one glance at Kakashi, smiled sadly and nodded. Kakashi nodded back and proceeded down a corridor. The halls were depressing, white and boring. Then again, I didn't like white.

Soon, Kakashi stopped and turned at a door. He slid it open and walked in. I followed and closed the door behind me. I followed Kakashi to the single bed in the room, and Kakashi pulled back the screens. He sat down on one of the chairs. I sat down on another one and studied the girl in the bed.

In a word, the girl was beautiful. She looked so peaceful in that bed, so vulnerable, like a single touch would shatter into pieces. (Well, that was proved wrong when Kakashi gently put his hand on top of hers.) She had long, wavy hair that reminded me of fire. Suddenly I was conscious of myself, the girl with the scar that almost couldn't be bothered to run a brush through her hair that morning.

"Faith," Kakashi said softly, "this is Kaze, my half-sister." The way he said her name, the way he seemed so much different was amazing. It's like he was a different person when he was at this girl's bedside. He seemed weaker, and yet so much stronger; more vulnerable, and yet so much more guarded. What he was... I couldn't place it.

"Kaze," I said quietly. "That's a nice name. Kind of strange, though." Well, I was being honest. _Kaze_ meant 'wind.' Who would name their daughter wind?

Kakashi gave a quiet laugh. "She first opened her eyes when the wind blew through the window," he said, a hint of a smile in his voice. "That's why our mother named her Kaze."

"You said she was your half-sister, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

Kakashi nodded. "My father died three years before she was born. We don't know who her father was, or is." My eye shot up from Kaze to Kakashi. "Our mother died not knowing."

I didn't know what to say. _Protective,_ I thought. _That's what he is. He's protective of her. And a person with something to protect is a fierce fighter, and a valuable ally. I..._ I didn't know what to think after that.

The door slid open again and a young girl walked in, sliding the door closed behind her. Her silver hair was in a loose plait down her back and her eyes shined pale gold. In her hand was a beautiful lilac lily. She walked up to the bed and stood beside Kaze.

"How is she, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked softly, putting the flower in a tall vase that sat on the table beside the bed. Kakashi shook his head and the girl's eyes dropped to where Kakashi was holding Kaze's hand. "I see," she looked up at me. "I'm Maria, by the way," she smiled slightly.

"Faith," I replied.

"Going on a mission?" Kakashi asked her.

"Yeah," Maria replied. "I just dropped by to give her another flower. She likes them."

"You put her onto it," Kakashi laughed slightly, "she never used to be one for flowers. She even refused to take the kunoichi classes, and instead did extra training with me."

"Really?" Maria sounded surprised. "How did she manage that?"

"By beating the former number-one rookie, Sasuke," Kakashi replied. "That earned her equal-number-one rookie."

"I knew she was one of the best, but refusing to take classes..." she shook her head grinning. "What a rebel."

"Always has been." Kakashi squeezed Kaze's hand. "I suppose she got that from our mother. Although, she's a slightly, well, _louder_ rebel than Yukia was."

Maria smiled. "Well, I suppose I'd better get going," she said, turning and walking towards the door. "See you three later!" The door slid open and close, and she was gone.

_Three?_ At first I was confused, before realising that the third person that Maria said goodbye to was, of course, Kaze. "Those two seem pretty close," I noted.

Kakashi nodded. "Kaze started at the Academy when she was ten, a few years after everyone else. It's not that she was bad at anything, she just chose to do training with Yukia and me. When she got there, she was at the top of her class in the first week. Maria joined when they were thirteen, and made her way to the top, too. Not as far up as Kaze and Sasuke, but still high. Those two did lots of training together under my watch."

"I see," I said, looking back down at Kaze.

Kakashi looked up at the clock on the wall, and stood up. "We should get you home," he said, his voice back to normal. I stood up after him. We walked out of the room, Kakashi looking back at his sister one last time before closing the door behind him.

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**Well, that wasn't _so_ bad, was it? Huh? You think?**

**So... I don't know what else to say, so I'll shut up now and start on the next chapter. See ya then! Peace out, dudes!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yay! Chapter! I am so proud of myself!**

**So, if I can catch up with this one and Forest's Heart a little, I might have an excuse to write another chapter for The Blue Spiral (Merry Christmas, Georgia-san). I'm not gonna bother with The New Girl, that one's gonna be split into two books, I think (the current one and one for the Shippuden series).**

**Pwease review! Please please please please PLEASE review!**

**Anyway, enjoy! Peace out!**

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That night, I stayed up later than usual. Most of the night I watched TV, aimlessly flicking through the channels and watching a movie about William Shakespeare. It was pretty interesting, actually.

After that movie was over, I turned the TV off. I sat back in the chair and thought about Kakashi and Kaze. About how Kakashi was so different when he was around her, like there were two different people sharing the same body. One was the quiet and reserved ninja that was always late and reading books. Then there was the protective older brother, who would do anything to keep his little sister safe. Somehow, when I looked at Kaze, I wanted to keep her safe, too. Like I was her older sister. I didn't know why I felt that way, although I guessed it was because I'd been spending so much time around Kakashi.

I stood up and went outside. The air was cool, and there was a slight breeze that touched my face, before rejecting me and moving on. I jumped up into the roof. I sat down on the top and looked up at the sky. The twinkling stars winked at me as I stared, and I glared back. I wished the world wasn't so rotten, that nothing bad ever happened. But, I guess everybody wishes that at some point.

I ran a hand up my scar, rom my collarbone to my eye. It was jagged around the edges and it was a fairly straight cut. Running my fingers from the top to the bottom this time, I guessed it was from a sword, cut downwards. It must have Ben a highly skilled sword user to cut something as severe as my scar was. _But how did it happen?_ I asked myself continuously. _What happened that I let my guard down so much? What was going on? Why did this happen to me? And... Why can't I remember it?!_

Morning came quickly. I awoke to the sound of chirping birds outside my window. I opened my eye and turned over in bed to look at the clock. 7-ish am. I bolted upright, staring at it. I quickly got up and got dressed, not getting anything to eat. I quickly ran a brush through my hair and got dressed. Looking in the bathroom mirror, I stared at myself. The scar was the most obvious thing about me. I clenched my fists. Every day, I heard whispers as I passed. "Look at her scar," they said. "Why would Kakashi Hatake be with someone like that?"

Well, it's not like I had a choice, people. Not my fault I'm an amnesiac.

I slipped on my boots and exited the house. Kakashi was waiting for me outside, engrossed in his perverted book that he was always reading. "You took your time," he said. "Sleep in?" I didn't answer. Kakashi continued, "Well, can't blame you. You've been looking pretty tired lately. You could use the extra time."

"Why are you so worried about me?" I finally asked. Kakashi looked up, surprised.

"I was assigned to look after you while you're in the village," he replied, "why else?"

I looked away. "Nevermind."

"Lady Hokage wants to see us," Kakashi told me casually. He put his book away and started walking.

I caught up to him. "What for?"

"No clue."

So we ventured down the streets of the village, towards the Hokage's office. I must say, the halls of the building were stuffier than when I was first there. Subconsciously, my hand went up to my scar. I ripped it away, refusing to let myself show any emotion whatsoever.

Soon after, we reached the office and Kakashi knocked on the door. Tsunade's voice answered, "Enter," and Kakashi opened the door and led the way in.

"You wanted to see us?" Kakashi asked politely. I hooked my thumbs into my pockets and shifted my weight onto one leg. Hey, as long as I was an amnesiac, she wasn't my leader! No way! She had to earn my respect, and sitting in a fancy chair in a fancy office doesn't help her out.

Tsunade nodded. "Kakashi," she began, "despite the face that you are already on a mission guarding Faith, I am assigning you to another mission."

"What?" Kakashi and I spoke in unison.

"Faith will have an ANBU watching her, but until you return she can do as she pleases in the village," Tsunade continued. "Providing, of course, that she doesn't cause trouble."

Glad to know you think so highly of me, I thought to myself. Hey, it had been nearly a month!

"Kakashi, you will receive the full details of his mission when the others get here," Tsunade finished.

Kakashi nodded. "I understand." He turned to me. "Can I speak with you?" When I nodded, he led the way out into the halls again. "Will you be okay without me?" he asked.

I rolled my eye. "Please, I can take care of myself, even if there's trouble," I replied. "You saw."

"That I did."

"I'll be fine for however long," I assured him. "Besides, I'm sure your squad will have been dying for a mission by now."

Kakashi considered. "Well, you got me there," he said. "See you when I get back, then."

I nodded. "See you," I replied, and walked off as Kakashi entered the office again.

_Well_, I thought, _this will be interesting._

* * *

**A/N: Dear, dear I hope that's not too bad... hmm... Oh, I'll look at it later. Hope you liked it anyway! Peace out!**


	5. Chapter 5

So I wandered around the village for the day, not buying anything, just looking (I did meet the four people that were going on the mission with Kakashi. Naruto, Sakura and Sai, the kids in his squad, and Yamato, and adult that would be helping them during the mission). I went to parts of the village that Kakashi hadn't taken me to, and I secretly loved every minute of it. I pretended to ignore the ANBU Black Op ninja that was following me around, instead of trying the easy conversation that I always had with Kakashi. _Ah, well._

The day ended quickly, and the ANBU caught up to me and told me that I had to be in my "residence" by sundown. I rolled my eye and headed towards the house. Laying on my bed that night, I wondered about Kakashi. About what kind of a mission he was on, how dangerous it was. There was no denying that Kakashi could definitrly take care of himself, and the Sai, the brown-haired boy that was with him, certainly looked like he had some good jutsu with him, but I wasn't sure about the other two. The boy looked like a total idiot, and the girl looked like she was strong, but the weakest of the four. I had no room for weakness in my mind.

_Maybe tomorrow I'll go and see his sister for him,_ I thought as sleep pulled me under.

Morning came and I ventured to the hospital. The lady at the reception was the same one as two days ealier and she recognised me, so she nodded, allowing me to go through. From memory, I managed to find Kaze's room. I took a deep breath and slid open the door.

The room was empty. The bedclothes were tossed off the bed and the heart monitor was giving off a high-pitched, never ending _beep_ that hurt my ears. I looked around, but saw no signs of struggle. At the time, I was so worried and frustrated that I couldn't think straight. I ran over to the window, slammed it open and jumped out. I jumped from roof to roof towards the Hokage's office. I ran through the hallways and slammed open the door. Tsunade looked up sharply from her desk.

"What is it?" she asked quickly. I doubled over, breathing heavily.

"Kaze..." I managed to get out between my panting breaths.

Tsunade stood up. "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Kaze, Kakashi's sister," I said, trying to word together a sentence. "She's gone!" I finally said. "I went to see her and the room was empty!"

"We need to find her immediately," Tsunade said. "Yamato, who was on the mission with Kakashi, returned not long ago. Faith, can you tell him this?" I nodded. "Good. Shizune," she addressed the woman standing next to her, "we need to organise search parties immediately. In and around the village."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shizune nodded and hurried past me.

"Tsunade," I said, "where is Yamato?" She gave me simple directions: left down the hall, left, down that hall, right and the second door on the right. I nodded to show I understood and ran off. _Damn it, Kaze,_ I thought as I ran.

As I reached the last haal the second door on the right slammed open and Yamato stood there. "Why are you here?" he demanded of me.

I quickly walked up to him. "I was told that you'd returned, and Tsunade asked me to tell you something," I answered.

"What is it?" Yamato asked quickly?

I shook my head, still unable to believe that she'd just... disappeared. "Kaze's missing," I said after a few seconds. "She's gone."

"Wait, what?" Yamato's tone was incredulous, and so was his expression. "As in, Kaze Hatake? The Kaze who's been in a coma Kaze?"

I glared at him. "Do I look like I know any other Kazes'?" I said sarcastically.

"How?" Yamato demanded, and I shook my head again. "When?"

"In the last hour, probably," I said. Then I cought sight of a woman behind Yamato, sitting in a chair with her hands and feet tied. She was staring at me with chocolate-brown eyes that matched her hair, and the only thing she was wearing was a light grey dress that rested under her ankles. "Who is that?" I asked.

Yamato looked over his shoulder at the woman. "Skye," he said. "The reason I came back without Kakashi and the others."

_Kakashi._ The name hit me like a rock. A sense of realisation filled me and I started to think straight. "Kakashi," I murmured. "Of course."

"Faith?" Yamato inquired.

"Kaze wasn't taked forcefully," I said quietly. "There were no signs of struggle in the hospital room. Which means she must have woken up." I could see realisation and dread filling Yamato's eyes as I spoke. "And if she left without telling anyone, she must have-"

"-gone straight to Kakashi," Yamato finished the sentence. "She must have known something was wrong."

"We need to find them," I said firmly. "Now."

"We have no way of tracking her," Yamato's voice was annoyed, but not at me. At Kaze, for leaving, at himself, for not knowing how to find her, and at one more person. Probably Skye.

"I can," came a voice from the room behind Yamato. It was high and sing-song, like bells. I looked at Skye, who was looking from me to Yamato and back again. Her voice and eyes were truthful. "All I need is a description of her and the trees can tell me which way she went."

"No," Yamato said immediately. "There is no way I am trusting you with something as important as-"

"Wait," I cut him off and walked up to Skye. I bobbed down so that I was at eye level with her. I stared at her, searching her eyes for signs of untruth. Skye stared back, obviously unwilling or unable to look away. After a minute of searching I unsheathed a knife at my waist and slashed through the ropes that tied her hands and feet together. But before she could move I touched the tip of the knife to the hollow of her throat. "You lead us in the wring direction," I growled, "and I will kill you." And I meant it. I saw a bead of swead rol down Skye's forehead and down the side of her face, but she nodded and I stood up, sheathing the knife again. "Good."

"You're really going to trust her?" Yamato asked.

"I have no choice," I turned to face him. "I use my head, not my heart. And if we're going to find Kaze, Skye's our best chance. I don't trust her at all."

"Thank you," Skye said and I looked back at her. She was rubbing her ankles where the ropes rubbed against them. "For letting me do this, I mean."

"Why did you offer, anyway?" I inquired.

Skye stood up and rubbed her wrists. "Because you obviously care for this Kaze girl," she said, "and I want to help. I don't want others to go through what I have."

"And what's that?"

"Having no family to speak of." Skye looked at me and smiled. "You could call me a nomad, since I move around a lot. But I've always been alone, apart from the trees. I suppose they are my family." Okay, I had no clue about what she was saying, but obviously Yamato did, because now she was staring at him.

"Okay," I broke the short silence. "Let's just go and find Kaze."


End file.
